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NFL season 2009-2010
- Thread starter PCsucks
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They had the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars when they both made it to the conference championships of their respective halves of the NFL. Neither team won the Super Bowl.
I don't see this as a curse, but both these teams got much further than expected and with skill and luck, the latter was why those two teams got that far. As a certain point, skill wins over luck, and skill was not a word you used with Carolina or Jacksonville that year.
Skill is not exactly the first word that comes to mind with this year's Jets. Yes, on D, but only D, so will their luck hold them past Indy? Probably not, but I hope so for the Jets.
Odds are long that the Jets will beat both Indy, and then either the Saints or the Vikings (both huge teams with plenty of skill on offense and defense). Luck would come into play if and when the Jets get to the Super Bowl when the NFC champ gets there full of injuries to key players. I know the Vikings D can really take it to Brees and the Saints' D to Favre. If the injuries are severe enough, two weeks is not long enough for a QB or key WR or RB to get up to speed and fire on all cylinders.
As a Jets fan this postseason, I hope the NFC teams beat the tar out of each other and make the eventual NFC winner short of being 100% percent healthy. I don't want any really serious injuries, as that would be mean spirited, but I don't want either NFC team coming in healthy with all starters and fired up. If that's the case, the Jets will get clobbered.
Last year's NFC Champs were 9-7 Cardinals, so there's hope.
Beside, the Jets have owned the Colts in the post-season. Remember SB III, the Colts had legendary QB Johnny Unitas and still lost the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets.
NOOOoooo..... Curse you SI. If the Jets loses because of the SI cover curse, I'm won't bother reading SI until the next Swimsuit Issue.
Beside, the Jets have owned the Colts in the post-season. Remember SB III, the Colts had legendary QB Johnny Unitas and still lost the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets.
You are seriously saying that the Jets will beat the Colts based on the results of a game that was played 40 years ago? Good luck with that.
You are seriously saying that the Jets will beat the Colts based on the results of a game that was played 40 years ago? Good luck with that.
Are you kidding me? Everyone knows that Joe Namath made a deal with the devil that expired after 40 years. You gotta believe! Wait, what?
You are seriously saying that the Jets will beat the Colts based on the results of a game that was played 40 years ago? Good luck with that.
No, I'm hoping that lightning strikes 3x. I'm hoping the Colts go 0-3 against the Jets in the post season. I'm hoping the football gods will punish the Colts for their pulling their starters in week 16. I really don't care who beats the Colts, so long as someone knocks them out of the playoffs.
Yes, I hate the Colts that much. I always root for whomever is playing the Colts.
I'll be watching for Reggie Wayne on Revis Island.
Go Gang Green and Gang Greene.
I'll be watching for Reggie Wayne on Revis Island.
The Jets problem this game is that, unlike the Bengals and Chargers, covering the #1 receiver doesn't detract significantly from the Colts' ability to move the ball.
Exactly.
The Colts have numerous weapons. The Jets have to sack Manning several times. The only time when I saw Manning lose his composure, as most QBs do, is when they get sacked or are forced to throw too early. The QB sometimes never gets their rhythm back.
Even then, with the Colts thrown way off, I could still see them handily beating the Jets. The Colts D can inflict their own damage and that's another factor here.
When the Jets and Colts played during the regular season the Jets D couldn't touch Manning, that's why I was so surprised they took Manning out.
This article is a nice read (outside of an excessive use of "Mr. Manning") from the WSJ:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704320104575015162979275340.html
no one has touched manning the whole year... but they took out the OL too to prevent injury...
Its the WSJ talking about football... I would expect them to address him by Mr. Manning
Later in the season, and when players are going for it all, not only are they working off of previous injuries, but in a big game the D is that much more excited about getting to the QB.
At the same time a D that has been going at it all year is bound to have its own injuries but there is not one person on D that will get hit more than the person on offense taking the snap.
Plenty of great QBs have left the game around age 35, give or take a year, throughout the NFL and Manning is 33. Aikman was taken off full time duties at age 33, and left football at age 34. Steve Young left at age 37. Jim Kelly left at age 36. Kordell Stewart was 33 when he left. The toughest of them all, Joe Namath, threw in the towel at 34.
When the team could spare Manning extra injury in a late season game where he is not needed because the team clinched, it's smarter than seeing them go down like Brady (who did go down but actually early in the season before he had taken hits for a long time.) And players like Manning, unique in his crop of QBs his age, don't come cheap, either.
Defensively, the Colts have been solid with Freeney and Mathis putting the opposing QB into a frenzy. Baltimore did a pretty solid job keeping them at bay, but the Colts D still managed to shut down the Raven's running game.
Offensively, the Colts always seem to figure things out...eventually. Sometimes they really leave fans biting their fingernails but end up delivering. Dallas Clark, Austin Collie, and Pierre Garçon have really stepped up and become great options for Manning since Wayne is typically covered really well by the opposing defense. When he does break free though, he'll almost always make the catch.
It's tough to tell how the game will really play out since their first meeting was kind of a flop (as we all saw). Obviously the Colts seem to be the favorite when it comes to talent and skill, but they also have home-field advantage which will be beneficial in its own right.
It'll be interesting to see how the Jet's D plays against the Colts' offense - Manning seems to do well against the blitz and his receivers and great ball placement give him a good edge. As long Indy doesn't try and run the ball (God help us lol)...although Addai has shown that he can do some damage on a screen play or hook.
I'm confident for the Colts, but anything can happen. Go Blue!
Offensively, the Colts always seem to figure things out...eventually. Sometimes they really leave fans biting their fingernails but end up delivering. Dallas Clark, Austin Collie, and Pierre Garçon have really stepped up and become great options for Manning since Wayne is typically covered really well by the opposing defense. When he does break free though, he'll almost always make the catch.
It's tough to tell how the game will really play out since their first meeting was kind of a flop (as we all saw). Obviously the Colts seem to be the favorite when it comes to talent and skill, but they also have home-field advantage which will be beneficial in its own right.
It'll be interesting to see how the Jet's D plays against the Colts' offense - Manning seems to do well against the blitz and his receivers and great ball placement give him a good edge. As long Indy doesn't try and run the ball (God help us lol)...although Addai has shown that he can do some damage on a screen play or hook.
I'm confident for the Colts, but anything can happen.
Go Blue!It'll be interesting to see how the Jet's D plays against the Colts' offense - Manning seems to do well against the blitz and his receivers and great ball placement give him a good edge. As long Indy doesn't try and run the ball (God help us lol)...although Addai has shown that he can do some damage on a screen play or hook.
I'm confident for the Colts, but anything can happen.
Mannng has done better against the blitz this year. In earlier years, it killed his mojo. His better patience with the ball and more methodical attack, looking at all possible receivers, may give him the ability to play even after getting sacked brutally. If he has to change his whole approach based on how the Jets come at him, Manning has the long time experience of having done it so many ways. He can throw very well while on the run in either direction, and he can play from the pocket and release the ball quickly instead of letting himself be the receiving end of a 1,500 pound angry man dog pile.
While I like the individual, I am a little scared for him with a team like the Jets who have not been to the SB in such a long time. Where Manning can come off as a prima donna, he's a prince compared to Favre.
I completely agree. In his earlier seasons, he really fell apart when challenged by the blitz. He's really figured out how to move in the pocket well (don't read that as running the ball...he'll never do that lol) and use his line. He's got great protection and his audibles are amazing. I think we can all agree there.
Be them a show or not, they seem to be pretty effective.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean here? Explain? Just finished coding so my mind is stew.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean here? Explain? Just finished coding so my mind is stew.
That's just my perception. Maybe he's really a nice guy.
As for Favre, many people have a perception of him as an ego maniac. That being said, if he wins, at age 40, nobody can take that away from him even if it's just the NFC crown. Some of us Mac fans may think that Steve Jobs has a similar ego, but Apple wouldn't be the revitalized company they are now without him.
Kordell Stewart?
That's one guy that never lived up to the hype. His lasting image will be of himself crying at his locker after being b***h slapped up and down Heinz Field in the AFCCG. Seriously.He doesn't belong in the same zip code,let alone same sentence,as the ones you've mentioned. He couldn't carry their singular jocks. Aikman and Young left because they were a concussion away from not being able to hide and find their own Easter eggs. Manning has been one of the least sacked,and least injured,QB's throughout his career to date. He's got at least several more years to go. Esp considering Favre is playing at 40. To mention Kordell Stewart with that group is comical at best.
Kordell Stewart?
I think guys like Kordell would do much better with a supporting staff. Aikman's QB rating was only mediocre, but he had weapons on the O to help him. If you didn't like Kordell, his play was much better than the hyped QB of my team, the 49ers with Alex Smith.
Don't even let me start on Smith and the expectations the Bay Area had or I will take up 100 posts just on the hype, the fans vs. the naysayers, coaches protecting his bad performances, etc. But with the right help, even a severe disappointment like Smith (the Bay Area's worst sports disappointment to date along the lines of the Raiders' Marinovich) can do well if the O gets up to speed, and somehow (miraculously) the D becomes scary. Niners went 8-8 so its up to them if they want to become a winning team or a forgettable era.
I think things are better for Sanchez on the Jets, who people didn't expect to get as far as he did with a team people thought were placeholders. The Jets had legends at QB like Namath and Favre, so who cared about Sanchez. Now Sanchez is one game away from the Super Bowl. The pressure of the SF press saying that getting Alex Smith, a touted reincarnation of Steve Young with a Joe Montana demeanor, will likely result in an era of Super Bowl appearances, put too much pressure on a good college QB assuming from day 1 he would translate into a good professional QB. I think this attention took away from keeping the fences mended on the D.
I know you know the X's and O's of football. What would you do with the 49ers if you were coach?
And about bad QBs, we all know about that man with a ring, Trent Dilfer, or Doug Williams for that matter.
........
And about Manning having "years" left. Are you kidding? Like him or not, in today's football, we will never again see somebody playing really well into their late-30s, and at age 40, like a Favre. With the help of painkillers, an already freakishly tough body, and a determination possibly bumped up by his huge ego, Favre is a one of a kind player we have never seen before, or will ever see again. Favre for football is as rare an athelete as Lance Armstrong is to cycling.
Stewart found out how different it was playing on Sunday as opposed to on Saturday. He was replaced by Tommy Maddox in Pitts,then by Rex Grossman in Chicago.When you get replaced by those two guys at QB,that sums up your potential in the NFL. Regardless of your surrounding cast.
Very serious about Manning.He plays more than half his games in a dome and is one of the best protected QB's in the league.He doesn't see the turf all that much. Whether he wants to keep playing is another story. Brady's going to be 33 this year.He's coming off a season where he got the crap beat out of him. And he's two years removed from ACL/MCL injury. He's signed through 2010. Talk is of a 4-5 year base w/option years.
The 49ers..I think it all starts with their ownership. How committed is the current ownership committed to winning? Are they still looking for a new stadium? The Smith deal tied them up for years. They finished at 8-8 and lost a couple games late. They could have been a playoff team this year. Let's see what kind of a draft they have.They're picking 13th. The mocks I've seen have them taking a S,CB or OL. They've got a nice D and Willis is a player.
Very serious about Manning.He plays more than half his games in a dome and is one of the best protected QB's in the league.He doesn't see the turf all that much. Whether he wants to keep playing is another story. Brady's going to be 33 this year.He's coming off a season where he got the crap beat out of him. And he's two years removed from ACL/MCL injury. He's signed through 2010. Talk is of a 4-5 year base w/option years.
The 49ers..I think it all starts with their ownership. How committed is the current ownership committed to winning? Are they still looking for a new stadium? The Smith deal tied them up for years. They finished at 8-8 and lost a couple games late. They could have been a playoff team this year. Let's see what kind of a draft they have.They're picking 13th. The mocks I've seen have them taking a S,CB or OL. They've got a nice D and Willis is a player.
I can see Manning playing for a 2-3 more years. Sure he's pass his prime (2004: 49 TD's, QB Rating over 121
), but he's still one of the best, if not the best, active QB. He might not be as tough as Farve, but he doesn't have to be when he take the pounding week in and week out other QB's take. I've watched games where his jersey never gets dirty.The way I see it, Manning and Farve are such fierce competitors both would be pissed if they lost at tiddly-winks.
Here's hoping Manning retires early so the Colts can drop to the AFC South's cellar.
I can see Manning playing for a 2-3 more years. Sure he's pass his prime (2004: 49 TD's, QB Rating over 121
I'd say longer than that. I'd take an old, fading Peyton Manning over 80% of the starting quarterbacks in the league pretty much any day.
Here's hoping Manning retires early so the Colts can drop to the AFC South's cellar.
...but...but....they have Curtis Painter!!!
I can see Manning playing for a 2-3 more years. Sure he's pass his prime (2004: 49 TD's, QB Rating over 121
The way I see it, Manning and Farve are such fierce competitors both would be pissed if they lost at tiddly-winks.
Here's hoping Manning retires early so the Colts can drop to the AFC South's cellar.
2 years for Manning, maybe. And that could be two rings, even with a Manning who let's say throws only 15 TDs in the next two seasons, and plays hurt. Like Favre who lied and then got himself out on the field with a broken finger, I could see Manning doing the same. If I were a top player and I had a broken finger, I would think about my team first and not about myself adding to the records I have held and broken over and over again. To many, this looks indulgent. Personally, I don't want Manning to retire, come back, retire, come back and be on his third or fourth team at age 40.
Manning sometimes has enough protection to not get tackled, but when he does, he doesn't just spring up like he used to. Watch this years' Manning vs. the Terminator style Manning a few years ago. In his early days, he could have doubled as a linebacker, ala Jim McMahon who was indestructible for a short time.
But I wouldn't say with any reasonable young-Manning rating numbers or touchdowns or big yardage.
Sometimes when a player is getting up there in years, and can still contribute, then that's good. Sometimes they leave while still considered good like E. Smith and Jerry Rice. Sometimes they play too long like OJ Simpson and Kenny Stabler.
It comes down to the player and if they can find a team that will take them. Backups like Steve deBerg, or "da"backup, can be good, old benchwarmers. A good older benchwarmer can give advice to younger players, and when the 1st and 2nd strings are unavailable, as happens in a violent sport like football, the 3rd string backup has to at least be able to have some skills. "da"backup had a few good senior moments showing the younger guys he still had it.
Even sports which are not violent per se, like baseball, see lots of older talent hanging it up in their late 30s on the outside. Some Favre like people in baseball think they can play forever, like Barry Bonds, who still has not ruled out playing again. Randy Johnson, who kept on going like the energizer bunny, had to give it up.